Ivory should not be used anymore. It is without doubt a beautiful material, but no elephants should be killed for it. Theoretically you could say that we should only use the ivory of elephants that have died a natural death, but things are not so simple. When you see a tusk how can you tell that the elephant died naturally? Artefacts from other materials are nice as well: we have ivory made from a hard nut, and there are various forms of artificial ivory. Many people love elephants and want to see them in the wild. When many tourists go to Africa and Asia for them, the local people will realize that a living elephant is more valuable than a dead one. Obviously mass-tourism might be a source of pollution, so visits to these areas must be controlled and the surrounding area kept clean.

If an area is overcrowded with elephants, the wisest thing to do is to relocate them to areas from which elephants have disappeared. Obviously you can not simply pick up an elephant and put it down somewhere else. Relocation is complicated and expensive, but if we really want the elephant to survive we will have to do just that. In overpopulated areas females are sometimes given an injection to prevent them from becoming pregnant for a certain period. It is not ideal, of course, but it is definitely better than culling.

There are many organizations trying to help elephants. It is true that many humans need help too, but that should not mean that we cannot do anything for nature and animals. Hopefully all the efforts together can help guarantee the elephantís survival.

In 2003 Thailand took drastic steps to prevent the exploitation of elephants. All elephants and their mahouts had to get out of the streets of Bangkok. They will work in national parks first, but later they may be reintroduced to nature. Hopefully these plans can be realised in the proper way.

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